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ICYMI: $900,000 in Koch Brothers “Charity” for Scott Walker

Posted May 28, 2014

With Scott Walker locked in a dead heat with Democratic challenger Mary Burke, Americans for Prosperity is swooping in with a nearly one million dollar ad buy intended to whitewash Walker’s failed agenda.

The Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity has always been willing to go all in for Scott Walker, spending $10 million in the 2012 recall election alone.

The latest buy comes from AFP’s 501(c)(3) charitable arm, which is not required to disclose its funders. But according to the non-profit investigative journalists at the Center for Media and Democracy, whomever is funding the spot could be in for a big personal payoff; the donors are eligible to write-off the donations as a charitable contribution just like a donation to a neighborhood church or the American Red Cross.

CMD reports that the spending is “particularly notable” given that most nonprofits that spend in elections are 501(c)(4)’s that do “social welfare” and are allowed to engage in some electoral activity, rather than charitable organizations which have an absolute prohibition on candidate campaigns.

“Scott Walker thinks that people who make $20,000 per year should get kicked off their healthcare but his campaign should get nearly a million dollars in charitable contributions?” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said Thursday. “No wonder Republicans like Scott Walker and Paul Ryan get it so wrong when it comes to helping those in need -- they believe charity is for wealthy special interests and their political allies.”